Today is National Black Cat Day - Cats Protection’s annual celebration of black and black-and-white cats.

Monochrome moggies are the least popular when it comes to adoption - taking 13% longer to find a new home for than their more colourful counterparts, says the charity.

Research shows that the myth that black cats are unlucky is still prominent.

Fashion designer Elizabeth Emmanuel has three black-and-white rescue cats of her own (along with ginger cat Jerry) and she can’t understand why there seems to be an issue:

“First of all I would always advise people to adopt a rescue cat because they’re the most in need of a loving forever home,“ she said.

“But why should colour matter anyway? I don’t understand why some people have a reluctance to rehome black and black-and-white cats because they all have different personalities and become part of the family no matter how they look or what colour they are.”

In 2014, black and black-and-white cats accounted for almost half of all cats taken in by the charity and spent on average 52 days in care, compared to around 33 days for silver tabbies.